Third world countries get small fraction of cancer funding

A report published Monday revealed that developing countries accounted for only a tip of the iceberg -- merely 5 percent of the world's expenditures on cancer treatment.

Despite continuous rise of cancer cases mostly in poorer countries, the Economist Intelligence Unit estimated that the world funding on cancer has a deficit of $217 billion. The Intelligence agency also reported that global spending on new cancer cases this year could cost as much as $305 billion, also they pointed out that there would be a vast increase on the annual average of newly-diagnosed cancer cases come 2020.

"By 2020 there would be 16.8 million new cancer cases a year worldwide, compared to 12.9 million now."

The Yahoo! News reports. The full report was released by the Lance Armstrong Foundation, set up by seven-time Tour de France champion and biking legend Lance Armstrong, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer during 1996 at the peak of his career but was able to won the fight against the dreaded disease. Meanwhile, Irish Health Minister Mary Harney in her speech at a global cancer conference organized by the Lance Armstrong Foundation said that she would seek a total ban on sunbeds to reduce the risk of skin cancer. Several reports indicate that sunbeds increase and sometimes triple the risk of skin cancer.